For those of you who have read this, I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

Do you think this new version of the game will re-ignite the community or will the same existing community just mirror/migrate over?

Would it be more beneficial to first somehow address the issues present in this version of the game and community?

Well... yes. But not for the reasons people may think.

I don't think that the game needed to get better to attract more people. The game was fine for what it is. It just was stagnant. There wasn't something new to be said. People on the forums kept saying "Oh my god please advertise! WTF"

But.. there's nothing to advertise.

But this, this gives us something to advertise. Something to sell. Momentum to create. There's actually a reason to make YouTube videos.

So yeah. I think we can capitalize on this. I don't think we need 2v2 or 3v1. I welcome all these exciting changes to the model, the physics, and the interface. But I think we can do something here.

depending on how the new learning curve is, if its more frustrating than the current one, then most new players or base players might leave or be inactive..
hope there are no glitches in the new game

I think it's a good idea to create a whole new engine without the limitations of the current one.
Turning Toribash into a team game with the new 2v2 [...] options and making it run smoother than now are things that in my opinion definitely have the chance to appeal to a wider audience.

Despite that, I really really really think we should bet a lot more on smoothing the learning curve, like Softy said.

Iirc, one of the main reasons given by higher staff to not throw more money into advertising was the lack of new player retention.
If the game follows the same general lines of this version I don't believe that retention will change.

More comprehensive and engaging tutorials, with progressively harder side-challenges, showcasing mods that are fun even if you don't understand much of the game mechanics yet, tips that show up in a non-intrusive way when you're queuing up for a match, etc.
In general, hold their hands as soon as they open the game for the first time, so that it doesn't seem as impossible to learn as the current game.

From my relatively confined gaming experience, Toribash has a learning curve kind of like Dota but with fewer addictive aspects.
So babysitting new players into showing them how the game can be fun, even when you have a short amount of time to play it, might be what is necessary to keep them coming back.

As a side note, the possibility to boot up the game and have a fun time in 15-20 minute bursts was what kept me into Toribash at the start.

This, also losing years of progress may be enough to make more players leave with the already low playerbase + splitting of said playerbase.

The best thing that could happen would be just like how it happend with the steam realese. Some more players got to the game because it was something new for them, this new version actually adds a lot of things and i think maybe it will help the community come back to life.

I think the playerbase will merge with a brand new one. I believe the members in the community right now will die off or treat this extention as like a super big addon to toribash the orginial. As far as playing the new game goes though, I suspect many people will still love the community but won't like the new game just like the orginial. ;)

No though, I can't imagine anything too extreme will happen unless the game was literaly going to be replaced or something likewise. Considering most community things are going to be merged, it seems natural most members would atleast attempt to merge with it.